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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Me, Amanda and Ashli had some artistic fun over the last 9 days, and I'm SO glad mine is done because it was a pain in the bootie. I started my owl mobile by shopping for WAY more felt than anyone would ever need, then I enlisted the help of my bestie, Tiny Ninja. Look how crafty she is using my curtain as a dramatic backdrop!

Tiny Ninja aka Jean was instrumetal in helping me create the owls of my dreams. We spent an evening and an afternoon surrounded by felt, fabric samples, craft thread, and Reeses.

I wanted to do cute owls surrounding a fabulous tree, so I found this tree template courtesy of Homemade by Jill:

Forever.

This tree took FOREVER.

Yep, still working on it...

In the time it took me to do this tree, Jean had finished the first owl (template here courtesy of plain jane) and cut out all the shapes for the remaining ones. We used felt along with fabric samples I had ordered for nursery options. So glad I got to use them!

After all the owls, tree, and some misc leaves were created, I had to figure out what to hang them from. I walked outside and found the perfect tree branch laying in my yard. Uh, ok then! I stood in my driveway with a hacksaw and cut it into two pieces (what a weirdo) and then Shaun fastened them together with an eye bolt.

We added some Loctite adhesive and twine to make extra sure the two pieces are together for life. Then we drilled holes on the bottom (using a tiny bit) for wee little eye hooks.

Here it is all done! And really hard to photograph. The hang thread is just clear fishing line, I may adjust the height once it gets in the nursery.

And all the adorable owls that Jean did such a great job on:

This is the Citron Dumb Dot fabric that will be crib sheets:

And here is the Sky Mini Chevron that will be the curtains:

All I can take credit for is the eyes and beaks on these three. And here is the original one, I decided to make him an 'angry owl' because Jean's eyeballs were different from the ones I made. HA! He says 'GO TO SLEEP OR ELSE!'

And my labor-intensive tree. Oy.

I can't wait to hang it.

This cost me under $15 for felt, fabric samples, batting, and eye hooks. The owls are all two-sided, as well. What do you think??

Monday, February 27, 2012

I can finally say I am done with the floor in the baby's room. We decided to do just two coats of poly because I'm the one with the poly skillz and I just couldn't do another coat with my belly and the fumes.

The transition to the hallway looks pretty good, too!

I spent my Saturday sliding around on my butt/knees, trying not to get too out of breath while taping off the shoe molding and priming and painting it all. That was a nightmare. Seems everything I used to do with ease is a problem these days!

After I was done with two coats of paint and cleaned up, the floor was looking really nice. Not that you can tell the difference in this far away shot, but here it is post-paint.

I had a 'wah wah' moment when I realized that I hadn't painted any of the window or door casing in this room, I totally thought I had. So, I will be spending a lot more time than I planned in here priming and painting. With this belly, it's going to be a challenge!

Good news is my glucose test was great (huzzah!), my iron level is good, my blood pressure is super low, and I've had less colds this winter than ever before, so I guess my body doesn't mind it as much as I do. Weird.

ps - I've gained 26 pounds so far. I blame it on eating to make up for being sober. Do you feel me??

Whatever I decide to do, it will be made of felt, batting, and have some kind of whimsical look using a lot of the colors in the room. Wish me luck as I do not sew and am not very good at crafty things!

We're having a link party on Wednesday the 29th for anyone who would like to make and share their art projects with us....have fun!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

We refinished the floor of the baby's room over the last week or so. As usual, it is a crappy job but we knew it needed to be done. Here's the orangey before:

After Shaun sanded like a champion with a rented orbital sander:

And after two coats of Varathane Espresso stain...which I wouldn't recommend using, it is a pain in the butt and the last part of the can is always twice as dark no matter how much you stir it. We only used it this time because we had to match the rest of the second floor. BOOOO!

I do love the antique look of the floor, though. After the first coat of Varathane Oil-base Poly in Satin (also an 'eh' product, but we wanted it to match everything else) we used 320 grit sandpaper to scuff away any stray hairs and bubbles.

Here it is after two coats of poly. We definitely need more drying time before we can see how it turned out, but I'm pretty happy so far.

We can't wait to get everything started in here. Since all the trim has to be painted and the walls are too shiny for my taste, I'm going to go ahead and paint the walls again, a slightly different gray but still dark. In fact, I'm using the 'Pier' color we were considering for the kitchen in here with these fabrics and rug:

The chevron is going to be curtains, the dot will be made into crib sheets, and the owl fabric is going to be a crib skirt. I chose the white Jenny Lind crib because it is inexpensive and classic, my mom has already purchased it for us and I can't wait to see it all put together! Question - should I put long curtains on the wee window, or just leave the blinds?

The right side of the window butts up to the shelving nook, so it could be tricky to put up a rod. I need your advice!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

We put up some splotches of the two paint colors we are considering for the kitchen.

We both thought the Lotus Leaf was too green in the space, and would limit the colors that I could use for accents.

But I wanted to see it at night.

Definitely looks more blue. And so I'm not sure. We both like the gray and think there will be enough white in the room to not make it too dark.

And both colors would look pretty good with the rest of our rooms...we were concerned about the Lotus Leaf looking too green and making a 'Christmas' situation with the red dining room...

Here is a little representation of the paint colors we have throughout the lower level. I think that either of our contenders would look just fine with the flow of our colors.

So, my thought is to look for a rug and/or fabric for the windows before I pick a paint color.

I'm thinking floor-length curtains in the window nook, not too full, decorative only....with some 2" inside-mount wood blinds like these for privacy:

These are like the ones we ripped out and threw away, but a better color and real wood. But I could also go with some fabric shades, right? We need privacy because our neighbors are about 15 feet away, but I haven't decided what to do yet.

I can't wait for all the new trim to be highlighted by the wall color, whatever that may be.

The final coat of poly went on the floors and they are looking great! Hopefully next time I blab about this room we will actually have the walls painted, and my shelves up by the frig.

About Me

My name is Sara. I am a home owner/renovator, photographer, and stay at home mom in the Chicago area trying to cram all kinds of projects into the time my son is at school. Ashford is 3, and I had our second baby Zach December 2015, so things are pretty busy around here! I like slightly inappropriate humor, wine, and stalking house blogs. I love starting new DIY projects and sometimes hate finishing them. I love taking portraits of families, children and couples whenever I can. This blog is all about the projects my husband and I tackle, the projects that fizzle, and the funny things that happen to us along the way.